Despite growing rumors that there are plans for an imminent evacuation of the area affected by the BP oil spill, officials insist that no such program is being considered, attributing the stories to Internet bloggers with overactive imaginations.

For the past few weeks, the Infowars office has been bombarded with emails containing links to dubious websites that cite even more dubious sources in claiming that a massive evacuation program is being readied. The latest reports claim that soldiers are moving military families out of the Gulf to get ahead of the deluge of people who will be forced out of the area.

While claims of an evacuation remain confined to hearsay at this stage, such a scenario is not out of the question. If some of the estimated 2-4 million barrels of oil that have spilled into the Gulf are picked up by hurricanes and shoved onshore, the consequences would be terrifying, and would likely mandate some form of evacuation.

Oil in the Gulf not only contains a massive amount of methane, but also deadly hydrogen sulfide, benzene and methylene chloride. BP admits methane makes up about 40 percent of the leaking crude by mass. Experts have warned that “dead zones” will affect entire areas if the situation continues to worsen.

However, it’s not only bloggers on obscure websites who are warning of an evacuation. CFR member and chairman emeritus of Simmons & Company International Matthew Simmons was quoted in a June 22 Washington Post article discussing what will happen if a tropical storm hits the region.

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“We’re going to have to evacuate the gulf states. Can you imagine evacuating 20 million people?… This story is 80 times worse than I thought,” Simmons was quoted as saying.

“The concept alone frightens me, their claiming FEMA and other governmental people are secretly planning to evacuate people from the Tampa Bay area if the oil spill comes?” said Larry Gispert, manager of Hillsborough County’s Emergency Operation Center. “Well, we’re the ones who would do the evacuation and I’m here to tell you I’m not secretly doing anything.”

Former NSA official Wayne Madsen as well as “former State Trooper and Secret Service appointee” Greg Evenson are two other individuals who claim that an evacuation is just around the corner.

While rumors of a planned evacuation remain unconfirmed, there is no doubt whatsoever that the Obama administration has ruthlessly placed the importance of exploiting the crisis above and beyond any attempt to fix it.